


Wilted Wings

by SpartFarkles



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, M/M, Wings, could be read as sabriel, spoilers for end of s8, spoilers for s9
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-29 13:57:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpartFarkles/pseuds/SpartFarkles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel's wings are damaged and losing feathers, and he turns to Sam for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wilted Wings

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this post: http://rockandroam.tumblr.com/post/64178421616/before-and-after  
> If you look at the after, you can see that Zeke is losing feathers. So, naturally, I had to write a fic featuring our favourite Trickster archangel who is very much not dead, thank you.

Sam dreamt of falling feathers and screams of anguish. Flashes of gold. Eyes that seemed so familiar full of tears they'd only a few times held before. He woke with a start, panicked for some reason he couldn't figure out. His breath was shallow and erratic, but that he could fix. In, out. In, out. Sam focused on his breathing, inhaling and exhaling slowly until he felt the panic subside. With one last deep breath, he pushed himself out of bed.

Shaky legs carried him to the bathroom, where he washed up more out of habit than necessity. He didn't bother with changing clothes, instead opting to head to their “living room” after grabbing his phone to try to figure out what his dream could have possibly meant.

Sam opened his laptop and pulled up his word processor, typing down everything he could remember about the dream so that he didn't leave anything out if he told anyone about it later. He'd been so busy that the sound of his phone ringing caught him off guard, and he jumped slightly before he picked it up.

“Yeah, Dean. What's up?” Sam asked distractedly as he tried to finish typing everything.

“Sammy?” Sam started. That definitely wasn't Dean's voice. He recognized the voice, yes, but it belonged to someone who'd been dead for a while. Or so he'd thought.

“Gabriel?”

“Yeah, it's me...listen, kiddo. I don't really know who else to turn to, but I need...” Sam listened carefully to the drawn out pause coming from the other line. “I need help.”

Sam pushed his laptop away and shut it. “Okay. Yeah, sure. But Gabriel, I thought you were dead.”

“No.” Gabriel gave a hollow laugh. “Not quite. Where can I meet you?”

“Lebanon, Kansas. We've got a bunker. I'll give you coordinates if you want.”

“Thanks, Sam. I think I've got it. I see the Impala.” 

Sam darted to the door and opened it. Gabriel was already standing there, looking very much the same as he did the last time Sam saw him. Down to the tortured look haunting his eyes. Sam opened the door wider, enough for Gabriel to pass through.

“What, you're not going to test to make sure it's really me and not a demon?” Gabriel asked as he stepped inside.

“I know it's you. You look...” Sam paused, trying to figure out how to put it delicately. “Exactly the same as before. You look like crap. No offense.”

Gabriel flashed him a weary, tired smile. “You don't know the half of it.”

Sam shut the door and turned to Gabriel, who was looking around. “What can I help you with?”

“Why did you agree to help me?” Gabriel asked suddenly. “I killed your brother, messed with your heads, made things harder on you...and then I let you believe I was dead, though to be fair, I thought I was dead.”

“Because you were just trying to help. I think.” Sam smiled and shrugged. “In the end, you sided with us. You stood up to Lucifer and died for it. Or, well...kind of died. And you asked.”

Sam watched as Gabriel nodded and sighed, his shoulders sagging. “Can we go somewhere private? I don't want your brother to know...”

Sam nodded and lead the way to the room he'd claimed as his. “He won't bother me in here.” Gabriel closed the door behind them. “So, what did you need?”

“When the angels we forced out of heaven, a lot of us lost our wings and halos. But some of us...some of us just got really hurt.” Gabriel's face was stony, so unlike the days where he was just the Trickster to Sam and Dean. “Sam, I...”

Light filled the room, so bright it blinded Sam for a minute. Spots danced in front of his eyes until finally they cleared and he could see. In front of him was Gabriel, still the same as he was before the bright light. The difference was in his shadow. Two great big wings stretched out, but held none of the glory they must have once held. They were withered and broken, and Sam could see actual feathers falling to the floor. From what Sam could tell, Gabriel's wings had once been golden with so many shades of yellow, gold, orange, and beige. But now, the feathers littering the floor looked brown and frail, like they might turn to dust with one touch.

“I can't stop it, Sammy. They keep falling off and I...” Tears started falling from Gabriel's eyes, though it was apparent he was trying so hard not to show weakness. His voice was soft, almost too quiet to hear. “I'm scared.”

Sam frowned, unsure of what to do. All he knew was that his dream... “Gabriel, it'll be okay,” he said quietly as he stepped forward. He carefully put his hand on Gabriel's. “I'm not going to lie. I don't know how to fix this. We have Kevin working on trying to reverse what Metatron did so everyone can go home. Hopefully that'll fix it. But I don't know how to stop this now. I do know that you can stay with us. I'll talk to Dean, let him know what's going on.”

Gabriel nodded slowly, and the shadows behind him disappeared. “Thank you, kid.”

“I woke up from a dream this morning. I think I saw this coming. There were feathers and pain, and I think I saw you. Did you make it back to heaven? Anyway, I'm not sure why I had that dream, but I bet it means that I can help you fix this,” Sam said after a lengthy pause where he'd been at war with himself over whether or not to speak up. Gabriel nodded again and swallowed thickly.

“Thanks. I'm sorry.” Gabriel paused. “I thought I'd died, but something brought me back. I stayed hidden on Earth for a while before I got the courage to go back upstairs. I made it back and then I...I'm sorry, I can't talk about it.”

“Don't be. We'll get it figured out. You can talk about it when you're ready.” Sam smiled and pulled Gabriel into a careful hug. He meant for it to be a simple, quick hug, but Gabriel hugged him back tightly. Gabriel was almost clinging to Sam as if he were a life preserver and Gabriel was a man drowning at sea, which Sam figured was probably closer to the truth than it should be. Sam could feel the shuddering breaths Gabriel was taking, and figured he had to be crying. But with everything the archangel had been through, even just in the last few years, Sam didn't blame him at all.

A few moments passed before Gabriel finally moved away. Sam's shirt was slightly damp, though he chose to ignore that in favor of keeping the archangel's pride in tact. It seemed to help, because Gabriel took a deep breath and smiled, his smile less fake than it had been before.

“Thanks again, Sammy. You're too nice.”

“Don't mention it. Come on, let's head back to the main room. We'll get you something to eat and figure out how to tell the others, okay?” Sam smiled awkwardly, which made Gabriel laugh.

“Yeah, sounds good. Hope you have something sweet, Samsquatch. Or else I'll have to just go to some other bleeding heart for help.” Sam laughed, glad to hear Gabriel sounding a bit more like what he was expecting. It made him really hope that things would be okay for not only the angels, but all of them.


End file.
